Nellie
by TheRestIsRustAndStardust
Summary: Nellie was a mystery, a person with so many layers and secrets within,each of them with a different name, face and identity. She was a puzzle.  And when a certain quiet, green-haired boy enters her life, he may hold the final piece.
1. The New Girl

_**[A/N: I have decided that I torture Phineas and Ferb, ESPECIALLY Ferb, WAY too much...So I've decided to give him something nice, while torturing my own character. I don't own Phineas and Ferb and never will. IMPORTANT PS: This fanfic WILL get progressively darker. There will be (non-graphic) mentions of abuse, as well as mental illness. I don't know the entire history of Dissociative Identity Disorder, nor do I claim to. Please enjoy the story, and don't flame me because you ignored the trigger warning. I'm trying to keep it PC here folk, so please bear with me. -Kaylee]**_

Preface: Nellie's Poem

The thirteen year-old girl held a small green pencil in the tips of her long, willowy fingers, working late into the night. It was long past the hour of her bedtime, and although she fretted that her aunt would stumble upon what she was doing, the girl cared nothing of the repercussions, instead focusing single-mindedly on her goal like an ant mindlessly slaving for its Queen. What she was working on was her Gorgon's muse, her ugly inspiration. It was the thing that she hated so much to write, that caused her a world of untold pain. And yet, by the unnamed Thing that forces us to stare at car wrecks and prevents us from turning away from the bad parts of the movie, Nellie worked on. Her hand bobbed endlessly, like a boat having a losing battle with a stormy sea, until at last, around two AM, the rail-thin bundle of knees and elbows fell asleep at her desk. Nellie Alder needed her rest anyway. Tonight, she finished her thoughts on this little town of Willow's Corner and all of the nightmares that emanated from it. Tomorrow, her wonderful Aunt Denise and she would start over, destination: Danville.

_Three Weeks Later..._

The whole incident began around midsummer, when the Phineas and Ferb were walking around town on their skyscraper stilts ©, patent pending. Isabella was using hers to try out a few new ballet moves that she had learned, and Buford was hanging Baljeet from his underpants from the top of a tree, much to the Indian boy's chagrin. Candace, still into her fervent battle to stop her brothers from doing anything she would consider "dangerous" was calling their mother, babbling into the tiny pink cellphone she always held close to her person. All in all, the day seemed perfect. At least it did, until...

"Hey guys! Look!" Young Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, the member of the group with the sharpest eyesight, pointed downward to a slightly run-down house at the end of their street. Normally, it was nothing worth her attention, but today something was different. From up above, the young Fireside Girl noticed porcelain-white boxes, cars or trucks of some variety, moving away from the building like coffin shaped ants.

"What is it, Isabella?" Phineas Flynn peered down, struggling to see what she saw. Due to his being ten or twenty feet higher up than she, it was more difficult.

"I think someone moved in! Can we move down for a closer look?" Isabella's hands were cupped around her face. She had to yell to be heard in the open air.

"Sure! Let me lower us!" Phineas pressed a button on the front of his foot, cautioning everyone to, "Hold steady, guys! We're going down!" Lo and behold, the crew descended to the earth, and also lo and behold, sitting placidly in the brown grass of the yard was a strawberry-blonde wiry bundle of arms and legs with her knees held tightly to her chest, reading a book as if nothing else in the world mattered in the least.

For a while, the girl ignored the group of twelve year-olds, hoping that perhaps they would go away. Of course, this girl had obviously never met Phineas Flynn. The red-headed lad smiled at her, trying to be genteel. "Hi! What's your name?"

The girl shuddered a little bit, looking up at them all with frightened but pretty brown eyes. Freckles dotted her heart-shaped face. Her thin lips quivered a bit as she struggled to find something to say. It was obvious that she, whomever she was, was painfully shy. When she spoke, her voice was low, soft but breathy, sounding the way a moth looks when it flutters toward a light. "Oh, um, hello...I'm Nellie."

Phineas smiled, oblivious to her disturbingly shy nature. "Nice to meet you, Nellie." He pointed to everyone, addressing them by first name only, since Nellie had done the same. "This is Isabella, Buford, the kid with the tree-wedgie is Baljeet, and this is my brother, Ferb. We live just up the street, and when we came saw you, we thought we'd say hello."

Nellie smiled forcibly, out of politeness, secretly resenting the people who had shown up so unannounced to her new house. "Nice to meet you, too." She used as few words as possible, trying to show her distrust.

Isabella waved, smiling in a sweet, patient manner. "Hi, Nellie."

Buford shook her hand violently, causing her to whimper loudly. "S'up new kid?"

Baljeet groaned, "I am happy to meet a new person, but right now I am getting splinters in places that I did not think were possible to splint!"

Nellie frowned, until she looked up and saw the last person, a green-haired boy who did not seem to take it upon himself to be her personal welcome wagon. She grinned lightly. He made no move to ask a question or prod her about who she was or what she did, another thing she appreciated, although the girl swore that she saw the ghost of a little grin on his face. The new girl gathered herself and her book up, standing for the first time. Upright, she looked a bit less gangly and awkward, although she still remained mostly arms and legs. Her ponytail streamed down the left side of her head, next to a very large white square earring. Her book remained in her arms, held up to her chest like a chipmunk. Phineas pointed at it. "What are you reading?"

Nellie's lips pursed; she didn't want to have to be around these people for much longer unless she absolutely HAD to. "This? Probably nothing you would be interested in, just The Complete Annex of Rainforest Insects and Arachnids. I'm all the way into the S section."

Phineas smiled. "Neat-o! So ya like bugs?"

Nellie cracked a little half-grin."I am rather fond of insects."

Ferb, the boy who had as of yet made no move to interact with her, piped up. "I read that book last summer. Quite an interesting read for those fond of the _Family lycosidae_"

Nellie cocked her head, impressed. Before she had a real chance to respond,a strong female voice from inside the fraying house called out, "Nellie! Come on in, sweetie! You need to unpack your things!"

For some reason, Nellie's pitch changed; her eyes narrowed and er lower lip jutted out. "Oh, great!" Her voice had gone deeper and yet far more childish. "Now I hafta go!"

Isabella thought it was odd how quickly the new girl had changed, however she made no motion to speak. Nobody else seemed to see it. Nellie icily walked inaide, throwing out a hasty "Bye!" before shutting her front door short of slamming it.

The boys and Isabella waved. Phineas shrugged. "She seems nice. A little weird, but nice."

Ferb just shrugged as he normally did. Inwardly, he was recalling the look in the new girl's huge chocolate eyes; a look of isolation. Repression and a muted, haunting look made their domain in Nellie's eyes. He didn't know what about her bothered him so much, so he decided to put the thought on the backburner of his mind. Of course, Nellie's strange behavior was a human Chekov's Gun. Something seemingly irrelevent, and yet what the future would deem dearly important...


	2. Shattered Glass and Hannah

As the weeks progressed, it became clearer and clearer that little Nellie Alder was different from the rest of the children in Danville.

She barely ever spoke, and when she did, it was almost always a one-word response or an excuse as to why she wasn't able or going to do something. Nellie was not curious or confident, although she was helpful and generous in complimenting other people. She never sang along when the boys did their musical numbers. The most peculiar thing, in at least Isabella and Ferb's opinions, was that she always seemed to be locked inside of herself. Nellie's body was there, but Nellie was not. It was like there was a forcefield separating Nellie from the rest of the world and showing only a poor projection on a screen to fool all who would dare get close to her. It wasn't any way for a normal girl to act at all.

And yet every day, she would be among the bully, the nerd and the Fireside Girls, ready to assist but never to sample the fruits of her work.

It was the day the boys decided to build a giant stained glass kaleidoscope that the group realized the direness of Nellie's disturbances. Phineas and Ferb, masters of all things able to be created, were already halfway done when the rest of them arrived. Isabella, used to the routine, sweetly inquired, "Whatcha doin'?", looking behind her to see three other people arrive.

Nellie stood beside Buford and Baljeet, looking slightly upward with her hands in her pockets. "Phineas answered with enthusiasm, "It's a giant kaleidoscope! We've got a huge telescope already and now all we have to do is finish the stained glass lenses. It's gonna be great!"

Nellie's haunted brown eyes widened. "Glass?" Her voice held the faintest trace of terror.

Phineas nodded happily. "Yep! We have every color of the rainbow, and even some that only exist in theory!"

Nellie bit her lip; she would still help, of course, but glass always made her uncomfortable, ever since- "Hey, where's Perry?" Phineas's question interrupted her frantic thoughts. "He's probably off somewhere napping or eating larvae. Now let's get this thing moving, shall we?"

With that, Nellie gravitated over to where Ferb was smoothing out and cutting the glass. She often enjoyed working around him, since he never tried to make smalltalk or ask anything about her. She could always give him little tidbits of information about insects and various other invertebrates that caught her fancy and he would never complain of her being boring or of bothering him. He handed Nellie a newly fashioned cut of dark red glass, a color that, Ferb noted, seemed to make her very uncomfortable. Her hands were lightly trembling as she walked over to Isabella. Walking nonchalantly over the grass, the gangly little girl's knee buckled upon her foot encountering a tree root. Nellie yelped as she tumbled, glass flying from her hands and shattering before her. Nellie looked down at the red, shattered mess, shaking with a numb, blank expression on her face, then...screamed.

The loud shrieking caused everyone to look up from what they had been doing. It was a horrible sound filled to the brim with fear and confusion. Nellie was now backed up against the fence, seemingly trying to escape the broken glass. "_**No! No, please! Make it go away, please, it hurts!**_" Her voice was the same blunt, deep childish tone as it was the last few seconds of their first encounter with her.

Buford, Baljeet, Isabella and Phineas all surrounded her, trying to figure out what was wrong; Ferb hung back, thinking that perhaps it would not be wise to encircle a person who was behaving as violently as Nellie was right then. Indeed, the influx of people gathered around her, blocking her escape, made Nellie scream and fight even louder and harder. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break it, please, please make it stop! Please stop it!" Nellie was sobbing now.

Phineas motioned for everyone to step back. He spoke in a calm, low voice. "Nellie, we're not mad about the glass! We can always make more of it later."

Nellie shook her head numbly. "You're lying...You ARE mad at me. You're just trying to trick me, stop tricking me!" She sounded like a little kid having a fit. Phin noticed that her left hand had little rivulets of blood flowing from it. More than likely she had cut herself on accident when she fell.

Phineas moved toward her. "Nellie, your hand got cut. Let me see it." He spoke firmly.

Nellie kicked at him. "_**No!**_" It was disturbing to see her behave this way. "You're trying to trick me! You say that you'll help me but you're going to make it worse!"

Phineas stepped back, utterly startled. "I swear, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to make your hand stop bleeding."

Nellie shuddered. "No. No, I can't. The glass hurts, so much...It hurts when you touch it, the glass is so red!"

Everyone around was shaken horribly by Nellie's behavior. None of them had any idea what she was talking about or why she was so angry and frightened. Had a few broken pieces of glass _really _done this to her, made her so disturbed? Ferb stood up slowly, making his first move toward the shaking and screaming teen. She didn't budge, but stayed frozen in terror. He put his hand on her wrist, eliciting a violent jerk from her. Ferb very slowly lifted her hand, exposing the bloody palm, and took a clean rag from out of his tool belt, wrapping it with care. She had stopped screaming and thrashing. Nellie breathed deeply, shivering. Ferb spoke calmly. "Nellie, are you-"

"Don't-!" She lowered her voice. "Don't call me that. My name isn't Nellie." She looked up at him with the eyes of a child and a sincere face. "I'm Hannah. Hannah Dorset."


	3. Curiosity Killed The CatAnd Nellie

Ferb blinked; did she just say what he thought she said? He had known Nellie for at least three weeks now and never once did she mention anything similar to the name Hannah, or even lend them any clue that "Hannah" existed. Was she playing with him now or was the formerly frightened little girl serious? "Beg pardon?", he asked incredulously.

Nellie or Hannah looked up at him with childlike annoyance. "My name isn't Nellie. Don't call me Nellie. My name's Hannah." She crossed her arms. "Why does everyone think I'm her? Me and Nellie aren't the same, got it?"

Everybody was staring to one another, wondering what kind of sick joke this really was, or was not. Isabella humphed. "Okay, Nellie, you had your fun, but now you're going too far! This isn't funny!"

"Hannah" stomped her foot. "My name is not Nellie! Hannah! Hannah! Hannah!" She was beginning to throw a fit.

Phineas decided to play along with her, at least until he could tell if this transformation was genuine or the sick humor of an ill mind. "So...Hannah," he began, testing the waters. "Why did you get so scared before?"

She looked at Phineas with suspicion and slight fear. "I don't like glass. Glass and the color red. They hurt... I don't like them one teeny weeny bit." She glared. "Why do you wanna know?"

He half-smiled at her sympathetically. "I'm just curious."

"Well don't be!" Hannah shot the words like arrows from her pretty bow-mouth.

Phineas frowned. "Why not? Being curious is fun!"

Hannah shook her head matter-of-factly. "Ever hear "curiosity killed the cat"? Bet the cat didn't think it was so fun!" She added, as an afterthought, "And stop asking me stuff! I don't like questions! Just because stupid Nellie likes you doesn't mean I have to." The words, though nobody was willing to admit it, stung. Picking up the book she had taken with her, Hannah, or Nellie, or whomever the young lady was, stalked off, head held high.

Buford broke the ten-minute silence. "That girl has _serious _issues, man."

Baljeet replied numbly, "Ditto."

At Nellie's house, Hannah brushed her long hair, scraping it into pigtails as was her custom. She adored her cute little rainbow barrettes and decided to add them as well, pulling away a section of her thick mane of hair and inspecting her appearance. The seven and one half year-old wrinkled her nose, recalling the kids she had met earlier; how in the heck could anyone, no matter **how **dumb, mistake _**her **_for Nellie? Hannah smiled at her long, straight ashen hair and large blue eyes. Although she resented the braces covering her pearly teeth, Hannah still liked her appearance. _No, _she thought. _I don't look at all like Nellie. I don't know why other people are so dumb._

_**A/N: This chapter is brief, but supposed to be mainly for exposition. Sorry that it was so short, but it's there to get Hannah in and out. -Kaylee]**_


	4. Geraldine Alder is not my mother!

For awhile after the incident, all of the kids just sat around, talking about what had happened to the odd girl at the end of the street. This time they didn't even notice, let alone _care _that their marvelous invention had disappeared. They invented things nearly every day, but this was the first time that they had ever seen a psychiatric break before and now nobody knew what to do. It was terrifying, and yet held an element of mystery to it that drew them in.

Baljeet was afraid; if this girl was deeply disturbed, would she begin to target them all? His memories flashed to news stories about people who were mentally unwell attacking and mutilating people that they barely knew. He now wanted nothing to do with odd, unhappy Nellie any longer.

Isabella was enraged that anybody would act that way. One minute, Nellie had been a very kind young woman, even if she was somewhat dull and anti-social, and the next minute she began shrieking like a banshee and hurling insults at the people who only tried to help her...All because of broken glass? She felt confusion underneath her anger and perhaps, although Izzy would not admit it, a genuine pang of empathy for the confusing young person.

Buford felt discombobulated about the whole mess. He didn't know Nellie very well, or like her all that much. Until the incident she had only Been. He had no feelings for her otherwise, but now? Now she was creepy and crazy. He added Schizo to his list of nicknames, alongside Dinner Bell and Beanpole McGee.

Phineas was not sure in the least _how _he felt about Nellie or "Hannah" as she now called herself. It was his very nature to be kind and accepting, but what he had just seen defied all rhyme or reason. Phin knew that something was direly wrong with the strawberry-blonde, but would she tell him if he asked her? Her words rung in his ears; _I don't like questions!_ It was almost certain that she would refuse to relinquish the details of her glass and red phobia or her insistence upon changing her name from Nellie to Hannah. Of course, Phineas Flynn would never give up. For him, being unable to solve a problem would be like a fish unable to swim. In his head, he made a declaration; _Phineas, I know what Ferb and I are doing tomorrow._

Ferb, of course, had his take on things, and also of course, it was different than everyone else's. He had always been a man of science, and as such enjoyed figuring out the why instead of the what. Most everyone was focused on the fact that Nellie just had a horrific outburst, but he was more interested in what had caused her to react so violently to broken glass and why the color red was so awful to her. Was she mentally ill? Did something happen to Nellie when she was young that made her hate glass? Or was the fact of the matter that she was simply hateful and playing a game to make them all suffer? In truth, he had grown somewhat fond of little Nellie Alder; she may have been shy to a fault, but she always took time to congratulate him on his part in their projects and offer her assistance in anything. Nellie remembered who he was and that even though Phineas was the brain behind it all, he was the heart. She would always impart little tidbits of wisdom on various spiders, insects and exoskeletal beings that frightened other girls. Yes, he sincerely hoped that Nellie wasn't playing a cruel trick, but even deeper down, he hoped that she was.

Phineas, after an agonizingly drawn out silence, spoke. "Should we go check on her?"

Everyone was a bit startled by the sudden noise. Buford asked, "Who, Nellie? Why should we go and see her if she's gonna be a jerk like that?"

He sounded a bit incredulous after Buford said that. "Buford, whatever happened could be serious!"

"Yeah, well I'M _bein'_ serious! That girl's got some mental problems or somethin' and I don't wanna be there when she decides to stab you all wit' a fork!" Buford got up, waving as he stormed off. "See ya on the ten o'clock news, Dinner Bell! You, Beanpole McGee and Schizo!"

Phineas groaned in frustration. Baljeet asked, "Who is Schizo?"

The boy cocked his head. "I think he meant Nellie." He gave the now vanished Buford a dirty look. "Anyway, whatever happened to Nellie or Hannah or whoever isn't going to get figured out by just standing around. Now let's go and see if she's at home!"

For some odd reason, the others agreed. It was silent as they meandered to the end of the block, mentally preparing themselves for the worst and hoping for the best. When they reached the steps of the charcoal dust colored house, it was Phineas who was composed enough to ring the doorbell and fake a smile when a pleasant-looking woman answered the door. She had black plastic glasses and stood a head shorter than their own mother. The woman had hair like Nellie and was most likely her mom. She smiled. "Hello there. Are you kids friends of Nellie's?"

Phineas nodded politely. "Yes, yes we are. May we see her please?"

The woman ushered them in. "Of course! Please come in, if you want."

The house was relatively nice on the inside, painted different shades of navy blue and beige with pictures and mementos adorning the shelves alongside stacks of Stumbleberry Finkbat, Nannie Truth and even classics like Moby Trick and 1987. One particular photograph caught Phineas and Ferb's attention; like moths to a flame, they gravitated toward a picture of what looked like Nellie as a very young child standing next to an older woman with curls pinned to the top of her head. Neither of them looked particularly happy or content with being together. In fact, the little girl seemed quite sorrowful through what was supposed to be a smile and what turned out to be an ill grimace.

The lady who had invited them in noticed their interest in the faded photo. "Lovely picture, isn't it? Of Nellie and her mother."

Isabella looked at the photo and back at the owner of the house. "That's Nellie's mother?"

She nodded, making a mournful face. "The world lost a great woman when Geraldine Alder died...It was all too recent for me, all to recent..." She noticed the troubled look on the faces of the children. "Oh, I shouldn't talk that way! I'm Denise Forster, Nellie's aunt. I'll go get her now."

The children collectively frowned. "Poor Nellie. That must have been awful to lose her mother."

A door swung open near the back of the house and a familiar tromping announced the presence of either Nellie or Hannah.

"What do _you _want? I told you, I don't LIKE morons!" It was Hannah alright. She was now in a powder blue dress with pigtails and rainbow hair clips, something Nellie would NEVER wear. Nellie always stuck to her yellow blouse and bright orange pinafore.

Phineas stepped up to her, seemingly unafraid. "Hannah? We just came to check up on you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why do you want to know?" Hannah seemed less angry this time and more curious, as if she was expecting a trap.

"Well, you ran away from us after you screamed at us for trying to help you. It isn't normal to get angry for no reason"

Hannah put a single hand on her hip. "I have a reason to be mad. I told you, I'm not the same as Nellie."

Isabella put her hands up in a questioning manner. "What does THAT have to do with screaming at us for no reason?"

Hannah growled. "You dint let me finish!" She stomped her foot, then reverting to her blunt speaking. "We're not the _same_, 'cause Nellie can't get angry. Her mommy won't let her, 'cause she says anger is unladylike an' we have to behave like perfect ladies." She was beginning to rile again. "Well I dint WANNA be a perfect lady! I got mad and I got in trouble an' that just made me even madder!"

The group was beyond confused now. "Hannah, Nellie's mother's dead. Her Aunt Denise told us so just now."

Hannah grinned ruefully. "Gone but not forgotten."

Phineas tried a different approach. "So Hannah, if you and Nellie aren't the same, are you related?"

Hannah frowned. "I told you not to ask me questions! I don't like questions!" Hannah stopped, sensing that perhaps she should just answer instead of yelling. "What do you mean by that?"

He began to explain. "You say you aren't the same and you don't look alike, but you seem to know Nellie and know who her mom was. Was Nellie's mom your mother too, or-"

A frightened reaction from Hannah interrupted him. "No! No no no! Geraldine Alder was not my mother, don't you ever say that!"

Phineas jumped back. Hannah threw an old throw pillow at him. "Get out! Get out now!"

As they left, Nellie's aunt looked at them in shock from her reading spot on the porch. "Leaving already?"

Isabella strained to smile. "Nellie wasn't really in the mood to see us."

Denise frowned. "Oh. I hope she'll be better next time. I'll see you later, then!" She was as oblivious as Phineas usually was.

When they had all split and the boys were home, Phineas and Ferb looked at each other. "Ferb," Phineas began, "I think we just found a clue."


	5. Sydnie Explains it All

_**[Author's Note: Yay! Nellie gets a new personality this chapter! Sydnie the Australian, who is basically omnipotent]**_

That night, all of the children received an odd message over the phone from Nellie, who seemed to be back at last;

_Hello, everyone. I apologize that I missed our usual projects today. If it is any condolence, I plan on coming tomorrow provided that no more unseen circumstances arise. These fugue states have affected me for a long time and I'm sorry that you had to find out about them this way. Yet again, I'm SO sorry that this happened. Goodbye!_

The machine clicked off, ushering in a wave of confusion from everybody who heard it. As Candace walked into the living room of the Flynn-Fletcher household, she raised an eyebrow. "What was THAT about?"

Phineas explained the whole incident to his sister, making her hum in thought. "That sounds a lot like a movie I saw once in my psychology class...Suki, Sandy, Sable...I don't remember the name, but the girl in the movie was a lot like that, except she was WAY older and played by that adorable little actress Sally Field, ooh I am so jealous of her lips, how does she get them to look so perfect?" As Candace trailed off on a rant about Sally Field, the boys got up and set to work, knowing now what they must do.

The boys stayed up a little later than usual, trying to find information on Nellie's strange symptoms. It was relatively hard to search for what they wanted, since they had no name for the odd condition and only a list of words that could be construed in any order and mean anything. They had found out that a fugue was a rare psychological condition, causing temporary amnesia and distress, but nothing in the article mentioned an angry child taking the person's place while they were incapacitated. Phineas was disappointed but hopeful, trying to keep himself above the sinking depression that held back many a genius discovery. Ferb was beginning to lose hope; he _knew _that something was really wrong with their friend, something that was at the very tip of his tongue and locked in the back of his mind. He hated to think that the only thing separating a volatile illness from its cure would be a name.

It was well past midnight when they decided to surrender their fruitless search and go to bed, hoping to find Nellie in the morning and coax a little bit of information out of her without Hannah's interference. After admitting a temporary defeat, Phineas and Ferb fell into a troubled sleep.

The next morning, around Six AM, the boys' mother, Linda, came into the room wielding the home phone. "Phineas! Ferb! There's some little Australian girl on the phone for you!" She yawned. "I wish she could have waited a few hours..."

Phineas rubbed his eyes and answered without hesitation, querying sleepily, "Hello? Who's this?"

The little girl piped "Come to Nellie's house posthaste. I need a word with you and your brother."

Phineas clicked off the phone; through the thick accent of one from around the Cape Horn area, he recognized Nellie's voice. There was another person inside of her besides Hannah? What was going on here? He practically leapt into his clothing, awakening Ferb with, "Get dressed and come to Nellie's with me. I'll explain on the way there."

As they approached the house, the boys heard singing as clear as a bell emanating from within the little gray house, accompanied by the plinking of piano keys. "_Heave away, ye rolling kings! Heave away, haul away! Heave away, oh hear me sing! Bound for South Australia!_"

That was definitely **not **Nellie; true, it was the girl's voice, filled with an Australian accent and higher pitch, but Nellie never sang. She was always too shy, or so they suspected. Nellie had never given any sort of reason why. Even if she _did _sing, Ferb noted, it would likely be something a lot less bold.

When they rang the bell, the voice at the other end of the door sang out, "Coming!" Nellie, or at least, somebody who was in Nellie's body, stood in the doorway. She wore a long, lizard-green organdy dress with flowered patterns on it and a white lace collar fitted neatly around the neck. Her shoes were flats, gray Mary Janes, and although it seemed a bit like Nellie with its use of dull color, it was more adult than anything she had ever been seen in. "G'day!", the girl exclaimed, waving and ushering them all inside, smiling gayly as she did so. "It's nice to meet Nellie's friends, you've all done such wonders for her. She's been so much happier since we all moved to Danville and met you."

When she noticed the boys' stares of confusion, Nellie or whomever she was giggled. "Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself!" She curtsied to them both. "My name is Sydnie Monroe of the Cape Horn Monroe family." "Sydnie" waved her hand to both of them. "You're Phineas, and he's Ferb." Sydnie giggled secretively. "Isn't he the one Nellie fancies?"

Ferb blushed. Phineas ignored the comment and shook Sydnie's hand. "It's nice to meet you Miss Monroe!"

She smirked. "Oh please, it's Sydnie when I'm around Nellie's crowd! Just because I've taken in a few operas and been to the shore doesn't mean I'm a snob!"

Phineas nodded. "It's nice to meet you then, Sydnie!" He smiled happily to her. Phin could already see that Sydnie was a BIG improvement over Hannah; not only did she not yell or throw chairs, Sydnie was open, honest and mature, although increasingly chatty. She was also most likely older than the other two girls. "So, Sydnie,"Phineas asked, "Why did you ask us here today? And why so early? Won't your-Nellie's-aunt be mad at you?"

Sydnie shook her head. "Miss Denise works first shift. She was already gone at 4:30 this morning. No matter how long I stay here, I will never get used to American time..." She straightened out the single plait in her hair. "As for why I asked you here, I wanted to apologize for Hannah's wretched behavior yesterday. It was probably the worst I've ever seen her." Sydnie shook her head, genuinely ashamed of the child's behavior.

The boys sat down, listening to the sweet young Aussie explain. "You see boys, we're all different people. We look different, act differently, we even have different voices. Everything from how we wear out hair to what color socks we pick in the morning, all different. Somehow, one day very far in the past, we all congregated and people mistook us for little Nellie, and we stuck with it. We did, and still _do_, mind you, the things she can't or won't. We're like..." The young woman crossed her legs elegantly at the knee, thinking deeply. "We're like her defense mechanism. The chameleon has its changes of color, the snake its venom, and Nellie has us."

The boys listened intently to what Sydnie was saying to them. Phineas asked, "So what you're saying is, if Nellie gets scared or hurt, you guys take over?"

Sydnie shrugged, halfway agreeing. "Somewhat...A lot of it she has to face herself, else she won't be living, she'd just be watching."

"Cool! And does she know about you and Hannah?"

Sydnie frowned. "Didn't Hannah already say that she didn't? As far as she knows, she just has amnesia. _Fugues _she calls it. It frightens her. We try our best to make everything plain for Nellie, but it's just not enough." Sydnie's face grew sad. "She won't tell Denise anything. She's too afraid of being sent to a hospital that she'd let this happen."

Ferb looked at Phineas, who looked back at him. They both knew what they wanted to do, but could they risk it? Would Nellie accuse them of lying or refuse their company if they revealed to her the other two personalities? Phineas asked, cautiously, "Sydnie, is it just you and Hannah? How many of you guys are there?"

Sydnie replied calmly, as if he had asked the time of day, "Including Nellie? There are seven of us in all."


	6. The Brit and the Russian

_**[Author's Note: Sorry for not updating sooner. :( And this chapter IS really OC-Centric, but it is a MAJOR chapter! Don't skip it! D: Enjoy! -Kaylee]**_

The boys' jaws dropped; _Seven? Nellie had _seven _personalities? _

Sydnie nodded, as if reading their minds. "Seven of us in all, including Nellie and I."

Phineas stuttered, "W-Who are they all?" It was a lot for the two boys to take in, although Ferb seemed to be more accepting of it. He always liked to take time and process things before reacting to them.

"There's Hannah, Nellie of course, Rachel, Jimmy, Lynette and Olga, who travel together, and then, me."

He threw his hands in the air incredulously."And how does your Aunt not _know _about this?"

Sydnie frowned firmly, crossing her arms. "You mean _Nellie's _Aunt, and there's no need to shout." She went on to explain coolly, "As I've said before, people always mistake us for Nellie, and her Aunt is no exception. She knows how little Nellie really says or does, at least outside of her room, and when we come out, we make a conscious effort to keep to ourselves. I've made Hannah _promise _to keep her awful temper under control. I don't know why, but she respects me more than she does the others, especially Nellie." Sydnie blinked, blushing. "Oh, but I'm getting off track. Anyway, I simply told her one day that I was trying to become a voice actress and I would be doing these voices candidly as practice." She shook her head disapprovingly. "She's a sweet woman, but very clueless. I don't think she would have understood even if I _didn't _lie to her."

Ferb nodded. Phineas cocked his head, moving around uncomfortably. "...And she's too scared to tell anyone," he said lamely. He stared at his feet. "Gosh, that's...that's awful."

Sydnie solemnly concurred. "We all see and know what she does, except her. Nellie thinks that she's just missing time or having those fugue states I told you about." She brightened up a little bit, forcibly. "Would you like to meet the others?"

Phineas smiled enthusiastically. "Sure! Maybe if we meet them, we can figure out the problem."

Sydnie shrugged. "Maybe, maybe." Secretively, she smiled ear to ear. "Phineas, Ferb, I'd like to introduce you to the Brit and the Russian."

Her expression changed to one with an air of experience and boredom."Привет детьми. My name is Olga, it is, how you say, pleasant to meet you." Her voice was strong and feminine, with a thick Russian accent.

Again, her face changed and again, a voice that was not Nellie's came from her mouth. "'Olga, I thought I was clear when I said I didn't want ta see no bloody kids!"

The Russian voice that called itself Olga spoke back. "Lynette, don't be such a ханжа to them!" Olga smirked. "That was my best friend, Lynette Oldwin. I apologize, she doesn't like children very much."

Lynette spoke again. "No, no I don't. Nothing against you personally, I just can't stand the little titches."

Phineas and Ferb were just staring, minds blown at the conversation being held between two distinct people and coming out of one body.

Olga smirked, tossing her hair to her side. "Please, do not let her offend you. She is normally a sweet little mishkin, but she fear around children. I think it is, as the Americans say, projection? She was not happy as a child, therefore she does not want children, lest THEY be unhappy."

Lynette snarled, "Ow would you know? Stop tryin' a psychoanalyze me Olga, you know I hate that."

Olga nudged the air as if she were nudging Lynette. "конфетка, it was a suggestion. Do not be so upset with me." She smiled kindly at the children. "She is not always this way, I promise you. We became best friends, not just because we are almost like twins, but because of Lynette's amazing humor style and sweetness to me."

Lynette batted her lashes, blushing. "Oh, come off it, Olga darling." She jerked her thumb at the air. "This is the real reason why we're friends. She's so kind and open with me. We've never kept a secret from one another."

Phineas just nodded; this little spectacle was becoming far too bizarre, and it showed in a disturbed expression upon his face. He asked lightly, "So you look a lot alike, huh?"

Olga appeared insulted. "You cannot tell?"

Lynette wrinkled her nose, voice flat. "What I say, Olga? Kids 'ese days, duller 'an bricks!"

Phineas and Ferb took offense to that. "I bet Sydnie and Nellie can tell you, we're not dumb. We were just curious is all."

Lynette frowned. "I suppose he has the right, Olga...don't rub it in, though." She sighed. "Olga and I look very nearly the same; we're both quite tall, taller than any of the other women in our families, and very skinny." She chuckled. "We got the longest arms and legs, and wavy tresses to our knees what make the young sailors swoon!" She spoke, batting her eyes romantically and making googly eyes. "The only difference is Olga's rather red-headed. It's kinda purple and brown and red, and looks awful odd to me, but she likes it." She cooed. "And she got eyes the color of ocean stones!"

Olga chuckled, blushing. "Oh, Lynette, do not embellish the way we look!" She cracked an embarrassed, grateful grin. "Lynette's really the pretty one. Auburn hair and washed out gray eyes are not what I would call lovely. Exotic, _da_, but not the way you would say. Lynette has blonde hair, the same as mine, but the color of the sun. Her eyes are blue, too. Where I come from, any man would choose Lynette above me in the beating of a heart."

Lynette sashayed her hips, protesting. "Oh, come off it! You're beautiful the way you are." She looked down to the boys, frowning and blushing with embarrassment. "Oh bother, we've gone and ignored Sydnie's guests!"

Olga smiled, taking each of their hands. "Come with us, young ones. We will show you something and perhaps it will explain a little bit of who we are."

This was the first time that anybody in the neighborhood had seen Nellie's room, and the boys can honestly say, it reflected her personality...or as the case were, her personalit_ies_. Shoved into the corner was a pile of newly bought clothes with the receipt laying flat on top with the edges wrinkled as if someone had gripped it in rage or confusion. Olga snickered. "Nellie hates when any of us buy things. She hordes her pocket monies like she was a poor miser."

Lynette agreed. "The poor lass is so self depriving. Sad, really." She grinned like an elf. "So we all...help her, as it were."

"What do you mean?", Phineas asked.

Olga gestured, speaking smoothly. "When Nellie is in control, she barely eats and hordes her money like a bandit. When one of us is out and about, we eat well, or at least enough to keep her weight up. And we buy as many pretty and useful things as we can buy." She laughed. "It is so funny to see her scrambling around, trying to return things we go to certain stores specifically _not _to return!"

Both boys frowned, thinking that it was a bit cruel. Ferb walked over to the farthest part of the rather large room, picking up a sketchbook, flipping through it, and pointing to a page. Lynette's face lit up. "Olga, look! E found Rachel's pictures!" The young woman sounded delighted. Ferb moved his pointing finger to two women in the bottom right corner. They were tall, lithe and willowy, yet bony, like concert orchestra players or movie stars. One had auburn hair and gray eyes while one was distinctly Aryan, although both donned sleeveless wine-colored opera gowns. They were FAR from the wiry frame and freckled cheeks of the girl they inhabited. Lynette nodded. "This one's a bright lad. He found us right away."

Olga rattled off the names of everybody Ferb pointed to. One girl, wearing a scowl, a blue pinafore and white-blonde pigtails was immediately recognized as Hannah Marie Dorset. "That one over there is Sydnie", she declared of a green-eyed girl with long chestnut locks spun into a single plait. "And this is Rachel. She drew all of us, and very much nicely I might add." Rachel, it turned out, was a young woman with brown hair in a bun and round glasses over brown eyes. She looked matronly and serene. "And the little boy is Jimmy." She pointed to a wide-eyed little boy with short red hair and blue eyes, bearing freckles and a slight overbite. He had the same glasses as Rachel.

The last picture, at the very bottom, was slightly disturbing; it was little Nellie, as a little girl, cowered in fear against a shaded bit of the paper. She looked terrified, small, almost...fragile. Ferb pointed to it, concerned look overtaking. Lynette was the one who spoke this time, almost tearfully. "Rachel...drew us the way we looked when she first met us. She was the first, you see, she was born sort of out of memorium of her darling Grandmother, of the same name..."

Ferb rolled his hand, signaling for her to hurry up. Lynette sighed in defeat."When Rachel first saw Nellie, she was four and a half. She was there to protect her from...from..." Lynette broke away from the boy's unnerving gaze. "I won't tell you! I will not tell you, I refuse!"

Olga screamed at her, "You eediot! Rachel wanted to protect Nellie from-"

"Don't!"

"From-"

"DON'T SAY IT!", Lynette shrieked, enraged.

Phineas and Ferb jumped back, Olga shouting one desperate cry, "GERALDINE SYBIL ALDER!"

The words echoed in their minds as both boys ran away from the mentally breaking girl.

Nellie needed her alters to protect her from Geraldine Sybil Alder; _her own mother..._


	7. Flashbacks and a Diagnosis

_**A/N: This chapter, I think, is my best worded. ^-^ And as for all of those asking, the Nellie and Ferb romance is going to come in soon, as soon as he begins to help ease the symptoms of her violent disorder. The sharing of her internal struggle and emotional and physical turmoil serves to bring them closer together. Enjoy! -Kaylee]**_

"Where have you two boys been?" When the boys entered their home, hearts racing furiously, their mom, Linda Flynn-Fletcher, was waiting for them with a grievous expression plaguing her lovely face. "You know that you're not supposed to go anywhere without telling me first, and at seven AM? You've been gone for two and a half hours!" Her face changed when she saw the haunted countenances they had, as if having witnessed some fear or sorrow beyond their years. "Phineas? Ferb? What's wrong?"

"Our friend, S-Nellie...her dog just died and her aunt wasn't around, so we went into her backyard and had a little funeral for him. She was really upset." Phineas hated lying, hated it with all of his heart and soul. But what else could he do? His mom may not understand, and as all adults did, if she found out the dark truth about Nellie and her Others, she would tell the girl's aunt. Her aunt would either view it with shock and disbelief or see it as a real threat. Two ways about it, the boys faced never seeing Nellie again, and since they were the only ones she and her alters trusted, it could very well be the things that sent her into madness from which no therapy could reach her.

Linda's facial expression softened from anger to pity; the boys both had been lied to about their own dog, Bucky, and his demise. It must have given them quite an unpleasant shock to see their friend's dog lying lifeless and bereft. "I'm sorry to hear that...If you see her again soon, tell her that, please. And boys?"

"Yeah?"

She smiled. "Please, if you're going to leave, just tell me. I have some errands to run today and Candace is in charge. Feel free to go back to Nellie's if she needs you again, okay? Just ask Candace first."

Phineas and Ferb smiled appreciatively. "Thanks mom. We will."

An hour later, they were both sitting under the tree in their yard, staring at the darkened sky and thinking about the dark and terrible things implied by Olga and Lynette. How could anybody, especially a mom, make a small girl cower in fear that way? What would the cause be? They both knew what abuse was and what it meant. It was a mandatory topic in Health Class ever since Grade Three, and now that they were going to Middle School, the details were becoming gorier and more defined. But it was one thing to see it in a textbook, and quite a different thing entirely to actually feel the fear and anger coming from someone whose life had been marred by it.

Something else was bothering Ferb as well. Her name was Geraldine _Sybil _Alder. That name, Sybil, just seemed to ring a bell with him. He had heard it somewhere before he was certain, or something like it. It was so familiar and yet so far away from him that it was giving him a headache trying to remember...

"What are you two doing?", came an incredulous voice from just outside the sliding glass door. Candace, their older sister, was gliding gracefully across the lawn with a can of her favorite soda in hand.

Phineas sat up, looking at her dead seriously. "We're reflecting."

"Reflecting on what, all the goofball things you did this summer and how you somehow managed not to get caught for it?"

Phineas shook his head sadly. "No, about our friend Nellie. We found out why she's like that."

Candace frowned. "Oh...why _is _she like that anyhow?"

"Olga and Lynette, those are some of the people who share her body, said that they were all there together to protect her."

Candace looked genuinely interested at this point. "From what? Who?"

Phineas sighed, looking as if he could cry. "She needed to be protected from her mother."

Candace's hands flew up to her agape mouth like startled doves. "Oh man...That's awful!" Her expression grew into one of anger. "When I get my hands on that-!"

Phineas cut her off. "She's dead, Candace. You can't do anything."

Candace sat down next to both boys, feeling their sorrow. "What did she do to that poor kid?"

"We don't know. It took a lot of asking and arguing just to get this far. But we're not going to give up! I'll do anything I can, and with Ferb's eerily accurate knowledge of popular psychology, I know we can help her out!" Phineas remained ever hopeful.

Candace smiled meekly. "I'll help...if you'll let me. I may want to bust you guys for all your crazy stunts, but if anybody were hurting you, you can bet that I wouldn't stand for it." Both boys hugged her tightly. Even if she was odd, they could always count on her.

"Thanks, Candace." Phin sounded the slightest bit guilty. "But I think we had better stick to it ourselves. You're great for wanting to help and all, but Nellie and her other personalities don't know you that well."

Ferb smiled at Candace, thinking that she would find some over the top means of trying to help. _Wait a minute...__**Candace!**_

His memory flashed back, putting two and two together.

_"That sounds a lot like a movie I saw once in my psychology class...Suki, Sandy, Sable..."_

The name of the girl in the movie was Sybil! It all fit together with something that happened last year involving a library book and himself...

_Flashback: Last September;_

_Ferb was sitting there, gaze fixated on the book he had gotten from the library in the adults' section. He had plowed through the childrens' books over four years ago and was always on the lookout for new material. The book in question was entitled "Sybil". He was already halfway through when Linda, his mom, strolled in._

"_Hey Ferb," she said cheerily, peering down. "What are you reading?"_

_He handed the book up to her, which she scanned over, face turning white. "Oh...oh my goodness..." Linda forced a smile. "Ferb, sweetie?" Her voice was shaking. "I don't think that this book is very, how should I say? Age appropriate. Maybe we should take it back to the library and exchange it, and you can read this one again when you're older, say maybe thirty?" She shoved the book into her purse and ran outside. Ferb shrugged, knowing better than to argue, although he already was perfectly capable of emotionally handling the incredibly adult situations and anguish within the pages. It just came with the Genius territory._

The green-haired boy got up quickly, tearing across the lawn. Candace and Phineas looked at one another, Candace asking, "What was THAT about?"

After he had torn through the page about _Sybil, _he had looked at the keywords and found exactly what he was looking for. As soon as he had it printed out, he raced back, page in hand.

Six beautiful words came from his mouth as he pointed to the top of the page; "I know what's wrong with Nellie."

The top of the Web MD entry was highlighted and clear as day in the new, dark ink.

**Dissociative Identity Disorder**

They had a diagnosis, now all they needed was a cure.


	8. His Dream, His Nightmare

_**[Finally! I've updated a little bit of Nellie! ^-^ In this one, we get a dream sequence as well as the first hints of romance.]**_

That afternoon, nothing much had been accomplished.

Nobody dared go back to Nellie's house and see what kind of state she was in, Lynette and Olga had seen to it that they were all thoroughly traumatized by what they had seen, at least to the point where they would always call before they went to see her.

Candace was, ironically, the calm one in this situation; she had said to the boys, "I can handle this. After all, I _was_ the one who saw the movie!"

Both of them wanted to tell her that it wasn't how that worked, but why not let her have her moment while it lasted? She would find out soon enough that psychology was nothing like the movies.

While Phineas was printing out information, Ferb sat in his usual seat at the kitchen table, reading the book he brought home from the library and scribbling intently. A Case of Multiple Personalities, the story of a young Miss Beauchamp, held at least a little information for him. Sybil would take a lot longer to read but would probably hold an invariable wealth of knowledge as well for him, as long as he kept the book hidden from his parents. He did not want to have to lie twice in one day.

As he wrote his findings in the little pad of paper he had, Ferb stopped for a moment to consider something: A psychologist has to know his or her patient before he or she could really do anything. Said psychologist would need to dig into what that person was and what they meant to the world, as well as to themselves. When Nellie looked into a mirror, what did she see? Ferb cracked a grin, pencil still rolling across the lined paper. He knew what _he _certainly saw. Big brown eyes and a shy smile. Two hands always willing to help him breath life into his inventions and the ever-present magnifying glass that protruded from the pocket of an orange pinafore. He hated to say it, but he knew that Nellie meant worlds more to him than she did to herself, and this attachment would make it increasingly difficult to help her.

The boy knew that he had to do it, though. Even though she had visibly sealed herself off from the world, somehow, when he managed to catch her by the eyes with his, he could see something, someone closer to this world. She trusted him.

Honestly, it sort of _hurt_, the way Nellie looked at him; she saw him, he knew, as some sort of God, a safe haven where she wasn't hurting or afraid. _I could if I tried..._Ferb thought furiously, staving off the negative thoughts. _I can't let her down. _He tried taking more notes, needing some way to fight the dam of his pent-up insecurities and fears from washing away his calm resolve. Pretty soon, he couldn't even see his own writing; the green-haired boy's eyes had watered over, tears now springing to life from his cheeks. Ferb bit his lip, burying his face in his hands and allowing a single sob to escape. _I can't do it! I'm not a psychologist, I'm not __**God**__! Even if I __**could **__fix Nellie I could never do so without doing it for my own gain!_

The stress was making him crack, as was the lack of sleep he was suffering. A lot of what was going on was resting on his shoulders. It would almost certainly be he alone who stood to protect Nellie from herself.

"_Please...Please...Please..."_

_A series of pleading whispers shocked Ferb into being; he surveyed his surroundings, taking in a disturbing landscape of dark reds, blacks, a sinister green for the sky, as well as dark blue cracks in the very fabric of the universe he now found himself in, like ink over wax. He shivered, feeling the icy lap of water at his feet and tasting salt in the air. He was standing on a jetty, a large, unstable rock overlooking an ocean of blackness and uncertainty._

_The staccato cries of "Please...please...please..." were coming from the shore, where a small girl, tied to a large boulder, was slowly being drowned by the rising tide._

Nellie.

_Ferb searched madly for a way to reach her, but it seemed as if every second he got a little further away. Finally, when he couldn't take seeing her swallow mouthful after mouthful of bitter seawater, he dove into the freezing ocean and rocketed toward her._

_As he clambered up the strand, the boy was freezing and soaking wet, but otherwise fine..._

_...Until he looked down to see the fragile, porcelain outline of Nellie, still as the stone she was bound to. "_God...No..._" The words tumbled out of him as he gently untied her, arms falling away from her unmoving body. Nellie reminded him of Nimue Vivienne the way the salty sea gave her an air of fragility._

_Ferb tried to pull her hair out of her face when, to his horror, Nellie's undead hand clasped his tiny wrist. The girl sat up, leering maliciously to him and speaking in Hannah's voice. "We've been waiting for you."_

_Hannah dragged him closer to the water, pushing him into the dark unknown. Five other hands, each different and yet the same, began dragging him down._

_Ferb couldn't save Nellie. So in turn, her personalities were ensuring that he shared her fate._

_They were going to drown him, as she too had drowned._

"FERB!" The preteen gasped, waking up with a piece of notebook paper plastered to his face. Phineas had his hand tightly pressed on his brother's shoulder. "Ferb, wake up!" He began coming to, now only trying to breathe regularly. Phineas frowned. "You were scaring me there." He regained his optimistic smile, handing him a few documents from the internet about DID, and taking the picture off of his face. "Nice picture of Nellie."

Ferb looked at it and blushed; in the margins of the paper were his notes, but in the center of it was a very good doodle of Nellie Alder. Phineas grinned wryly. "You were in Nellie Land, huh bro?"

Ferb gave him the glare of a lifetime. "I do **not **want to talk about it."

_**{A/N: Hope you liked. By the way, do any of my reviewers have a DA or Photo Bucket account? I'm looking for someone to draw Nellie.]**_


	9. Preparing for Battle

_**[A/N: It's here at long ever-last! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for Nellie, but I was in a bit of an odd slump lately. I figured that familiar things would help me a little bit, so...yeah! I'm also thinking of doing a story with Nellie's great 10x ancestor and Ferb Gor, based on 'Skullcrusher Mountain' by Jonathan Coulton. What do you guys think? Enjoy! -Kaylee.]**_

"Notepad?"

"Check!"

"Tape recorder?"

"Check."

"Helmets for you, me and Ferb?"

Phineas pulled out three helmets, placing them in a medium sized beige backpack. "Check, double check and triple check, Candace." He nodded to his sister, who was rattling off the items they might need in dealing with their friend. "Candace, isn't this all really, _really _unnecessary? I mean, it's still only Nellie, and besides, I don't think that therapists traditionally wear helmets around their patients. It's a bit rude, I should say."

Candace sniffed. "Phineas, as the adult of the situation, I find it _perfectly _reasonable to use all these things. I mean, what if she goes into some psycho rampage or something and attacks us all?"

Phin shook his head. "Candace, none of her personalities are dangerous, I don't think. I mean, an old lady, two teens, an 11 year-old and two little kids? She's dissociated, not a werewolf."

"Well...", Candace admitted reluctantly, "I guess you're right. We don't need the helmets...and we're probably not going to need the rope and the sea sponge then, huh?"

Phineas just stared at Candace awkwardly, frightened to ask what she needed rope and sponges for. "No. We don't need those."

Ferb put the last item in, something he had added on a whim when nobody else was looking. He didn't want anybody to tease him for giving her the glass encased dragonfly that he had gotten at the Danville Zoo in the gift shop after their last visit. He had smiled when he'd seen it, deciding to splurge while Phin was distracted with his transmogrifier beam and becoming "one with the sea otters" or something.

The three stood together solemnly, as if they were preparing for a war. And, in all honesty, they might as well have been. They stood, three against seven, in a secret battle to save a lost soul who didn't even know she was lost, unable to even tell anybody what they were up to. The afternoon sky was gray streaked, as if an artist in a foul mood had splattered it out of spite. Candace pumped her fist. "Let's do this thing!"

Candace pounded at Nellie's door, almost making the glass within it break away and shatter. Frightenedly, a small hand turned the knob, peering outside with large doe eyes. "H-Hello?"

It was Nellie, the real Nellie! The boys were so relieved that they dragged her outside and into a group hug, causing her to yelp in alarm. "What's going on? What did I do?"

Phin looked to the floor, grinning wryly. "We just...missed you is all."

Nellie blushed, frowning in embarrassment. "Oh man...I was having one of those fugue things again, wasn't I?" She stuck her head in her hands, groaning.

The boys' eyes connected; for now, they would just let her believe in her false diagnosis and not bring it up until she was ready. Nellie invited them in. "Please excuse the mess. Aunt Denise is at work and I've been painting about all afternoon."

Candace, Phineas and Ferb gazed across the house, stunned at the amount of water-coloring that had taken place in a mere three hours, ranging from sweet to disturbing. Most of the pictures were of mockingbirds and different species of spiders, all labeled neatly in pen. The less lovely among them were pictures of random numbers done in bizarre patterns and blood red paint. "I guess I...painted a bit more than I remember doing." Even _Nellie_ was freaked out by Nellie's paintings.

Phineas took out his notepad and pen and whispered, "Where do we even begin?"


End file.
